# Property-carrying driver: 16-hour short-haul exception — Federal hours-of-service exemptions by commercial driver operation type

For Property-carrying driver: 16-hour short-haul exception, cfr citation is 49 CFR 395.1(o); who qualifies is A property-carrying driver; what it exempts from is exempt from the requirements of § 395.3(a)(2); radius or condition is (1) The driver has returned to the driver's normal work reporting location and the carrier released the driver from duty at that location for the previous five duty tours the driver has worked; (2) The driver has returned to the normal work reporting location and the carrier releases the driver from duty within 16 hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty; and (3) The driver has not taken this exemption within the previous 6 consecutive days; baseline limit (for context) is § 395.3(a)(2): a driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty, recorded from its source on 2026-08-28; source re-checked 2026-08-30.

- **Exemption:** Property-carrying driver: 16-hour short-haul exception _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **CFR citation:** 49 CFR 395.1(o) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Who qualifies:** A property-carrying driver _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **What it exempts from:** exempt from the requirements of § 395.3(a)(2) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Radius or condition:** (1) The driver has returned to the driver's normal work reporting location and the carrier released the driver from duty at that location for the previous five duty tours the driver has worked; (2) The driver has returned to the normal work reporting location and the carrier releases the driver from duty within 16 hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty; and (3) The driver has not taken this exemption within the previous 6 consecutive days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Baseline limit (for context):** § 395.3(a)(2): a driver may not drive after a period of 14 consecutive hours after coming on-duty. _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> (o) Property-carrying driver. A property-carrying driver is exempt from the requirements of § 395.3(a)(2) if: (1) The driver has returned to the driver's normal work reporting location and the carrier released the driver from duty at that location for the previous five duty tours the driver has worked; (2) The driver has returned to the normal work reporting location and the carrier releases the driver from duty within 16 hours after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty; and (3) The driver has not taken this exemption within the previous 6 consecutive days, except when the driver has begun a new 7- or 8-consecutive day period with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours as allowed by § 395.3(c) .

## Source

- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-395/subpart-A/section-395.1

Last verified: 2026-08-30. Review by: 2027-08-28.
Part of [Federal hours-of-service exemptions by commercial driver operation type](https://referencesource.org/federal-hours-of-service-exemptions-by-operation-type/).